Kintbury Match Report by Paul Hansford

Leconfield Working Spaniel Club gets competitive

On Sunday 20th April the Kintbury Spaniel club hosted the annual inter club challenge at Highclere Castle. The challenge follows a working test format and each club puts together a team of keen handlers and able dogs in a contest to establish bragging rights over the spaniel clubs of the south of England. Each club puts together a team of three with eight individual clubs were represented in the event, the long distance award going to the Cornwall Field Trial Society, with the other clubs hailing from the south west and southern counties.

Plucky young upstart LWSC decided it was time to put its hat in the ring and start to get noticed. Following an exacting selection process (where availability was given precedence over all other considerations!) the club team selected as follows: Terry Hellicar running Finno Breeze (better known as "Tina” to club members), Robert McLaren running Ladecourt Nadean (or "Bo") and Paul Hansford running Buccleuch Incredible ("Lochy"). Strong words of encouragement from our club chairman, largely along the lines of "don't worry, just have fun" and "think of the experience you will gain", were still ringing in our ears as we set off for the event all of three days later.

The event itself was held at Highclere castle, this is a beautiful site with a large natural bowl dropping to a lake. The ground offered predominantly fallen bracken as cover all in excellent view of the gallery. The format of the test was to comprise two runs for each dog following the usual working test format, with a little added spice in the form of a water retrieve thrown in. The judges for the day were John Pay (known to club members having judged at our working tests) and Steve Bolton recently seen judging the 2008 Springer championships, who together judged the main runs. Added to this team was , Rupert Hill, who was judging the water test. Things were looking a touch serious for the liking of the Leconfield team...

Fresh faced and eager your intrepid team met up at 9.30 at venue to be greeted by a very cheerful and welcoming collection of handlers and fellow spaniel enthusiasts. A review of the running order however showed we were up against some of the well known names of the trialling world, people like Hilda Laity, Walter Harrison, Tony Habgood and Nick Gregory were going to be setting the standard - not good for settling the nerves!

So how did it go? Well we didn't win and we didn't loose, we saw some very fine dogs and some very fine handlers. On a day when despite a breeze the scenting was not good, we saw a number of handlers struggling with their blind retrieves, sometimes letting down very good runs. Other handlers gave a master class of how it should all be done. As for the performance of our team we saw Robert up first with Bo giving her usual busy performance, Terry got Tina to work consistently under the bracken which was great to see - and as for me, well I was quietly pleased with Lochy's high energy performance in the morning, but pride comes before a fall and by the afternoon it had warmed up and the sun was out and young Lochy decided a more relaxed approach was better suited to the weather...

Put together we all achieved very similar scores for the team putting us in seventh place overall with 266 points. The ladies team representing the Cornwall Field Trial Society won the event followed by the team from the Wiltshire Working Gundog Club and then the Bristol and West. Individual top score went Ben Randall from the Bristol and West although my eye was particularly caught by Hilda Laity's "Kidnais blunder of spriggans".

It was apparent that many of the clubs have been competing in this event for years and I am pleased to report that despite the lack of experience our team did not disgrace itself. Indeed we were the only team that can lay claim to making the judges laugh - those of you who remember Bo's impression of a paddle steamer at last year's water training day will understand why!

Overall the day was genuinely good fun, a great atmosphere among like minded people and yes madam chairman you were right, we did indeed learn much from the experience and from our fellow competitors.

I will share with you one final insight to the workings of a spaniel's mind. While waiting for my first run I watched a good dog struggle with its blind retrieve, the dummy had been placed at the base of a tree under the bracken in the lea of the wind. The dog was handled out to the fall and hunted the ground beautifully, again and again it worked the area but could get no scent, for well over 5 minutes it held its ground and hunted under the direction of the handler, sadly to no avail. The dog was called in with no reward for its efforts and I was left very impressed with the dogs tenacity in hunting so tightly for so long. Come the second run I was again watching this dog while I awaited my own turn, this time on the blind the self same dog refused to follow his handlers instructions, he ranged broadly and would not hold an area at all - again he failed to find. So why the change from paragon of control to free willed insolence? The answer I believe is the loss of trust, on the first retrieve he knew that if his handler sent him to an area there would be something to find and he simply refused to give up, by the second retrieve that trust had been undermined and he started to try his own way. Trust, so hard to build up, is so easy to undermine.

My thanks go to my fellow team mates for making the day so enjoyable, and of course for making me laugh. Next time the day warms up I will throw my dog in the lake!

THINKING OF GETTING YOUR FIRST SPANIEL?

Not sure of what to buy or what to do?

BEFORE YOU BUY A PUPPY

Come along and get the advice of people who have a knowledge of working spaniels and see first hand how to train at one of our monthly training sessions.

Forewarned is forearmed, in as much as a little knowledge gained, before a puppy is acquired can pay dividends later on

webdesign - jluke